New York Times bestselling author. Slow cooking expert.

Hoppin' John is traditionally made on New Year's Day to bring good luck and prosperity throughout the entire calendar year.

Today isn't January 1. Instead, it's September 21, the first day of fall.

You remember the song from the musical, Mame? The one where it says "we need a little Christmas, right this very minute..." I think we could agree that we ALL could use a little good luck and prosperity right this very minute.

[edited 5:24 pm: okay, there's some disagreement over whether or not it's actually the first day of fall. It looks like I'm wrong---but the sentiment is still good!]

1/2 cup instant rice (or use 1 cup already cooked rice, and stir it in at the very end)

1 (10.5-ounce) can Rotel

1 bunch of collard greens or kale, chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Soak your beans overnight in a bunch of water and drain well in the morning and rinse in cool water.

Put the beans directly into your slow cooker. If you don't have time to soak the beans overnight, that's okay! Instead, put them in a pot with a bunch of water and boil rapidly on the stove for 10 minutes.

Then turn the heat off, and cover the pot. Let it sit for one hour, then drain and rinse and plop into the pot.

easy-peasy!

Once the beans are in the crock, add broth and sliced sausage. Stir in the rice and rotel.

Add greens, and sprinkle on the salt and pepper.

Cover ( you may need to shove in greens to get the lid on nicely) and cook on low for 8 to 12 hours, or until the beans are soft.

Stir well before serving.

The Verdict.

We've got 101 days left in the year---lots of time for good luck to happen!

This tastes wonderful. It has more of a casserole consistency than a soup or stew, and my whole family enjoyed this meal.

I liked how the smoky sausage flavored the beans and the kale I used just kind of shriveled up and disappeared----we got a great punch of iron without notice.

Funny... my calendar says the first day of fall is Thursday 9/23?!?! Either way, fall is my favorite and I'm so glad it's here (or almost here)! My sweet husband is from New Orleans so we eat Hoppin'John every year. I love it enough to eat it twice a year... I'll try your recipe next! :)

It's a mystery. I see a lot of blogs saying it's the first day of fall, but both my calendars say it's on the 23rd! Anyway, no worries because I learned a few years ago that I LOVE hopping john! It's the collard greens, they are so good.

I've been cooking with tons of greens this year (being a southern gal and all). I've found that if I cut them smaller and add them in about 1 hour before serving, they don't ever get bitter. And believe me, I had some bitter stew mishaps along the way. The greens are greener though, which can alert picky eaters.

Yum! I grew up on Hoppin' John, so I was excited when I saw this recipe. I made it for dinner tonight. It was delicious, and cheap! I only had to buy some Kielbasa and Kale, and we were ready to go. I added a few things to zip it up... garlic powder (I was too lazy to chop garlic) and minced onions for a more savory flavor; an extra cup of water to make it more soupy; and some veggies I had wilting in the fridge. I added grated carrots and chopped mushrooms.

The flavor was fabulous. It was rather spicy. My girls liked the soup, but the spice was a little difficult for them to deal with. It was also a bit too salty. Next time I make it, I will cut out both the salt and pepper. I'll probably also use mild Rotel or possibly just a can of diced tomatoes. Overall, this recipe was great. Thanks for sharing!

You're right, there's confusion about the first day of fall. But here's a good explanation:

"There are a few explanations on why the equinox dates differ in the Gregorian calendar. The varying dates of the equinox are mainly due to the calendar system – most western countries use the Gregorian calendar, which has 365 days in a year, or 366 days in a leap year. According to the National Maritime Museum, the equinoxes generally occur about six hours later each year, with a jump of a day (backwards) on leap years. An extra day is added in a leap year to minimize a gradual drift of the equinox date through the seasons."

Full explanation is here: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/september-equinox.html

Stephanie, Your website and your book look wonderful. Slow cooking fits with my busy schedule....but I only know a few good recipes, even in looking through some of the older slow cooking cookbooks. I'm glad to have come across your site and book. I've added your blog to my blogroll. Thank you for sharing your creativity.

I have a Paul Prudhomme recipe for Hoppin John that I do in the slow cooker - very similar to this but with two differences: no kale (uses celery, onion and bell pepper sauteed with browned bacon cubes instead) and starts off by sauteing half the soaked black-eyed peas in half of a spice mixture made up of 1 T salt, 1 T paprika, 2-1/2 t black pepper, 1-1/2 t garlic powder, 1 t onion powder, 1 t white pepper, and 1 t dried basil (the rest of the spice mixture's thrown in the pot). If you're looking for something with a little more kick, this'll do it!

Hi Stephanie! I just wanted to thank you so much for your book and blog! My husband just started a new job (after a year and a half looking, praise God!) and is gone 12 hours a day for training right now, plus I work 2 part time jobs, and we have 2 teenaged boys. Planning the week's meals ahead and using the slow cooker 2-3 times a week has saved my sanity! I got a bunch of slow cooker cookbooks from the library, and yours is the best! So far I've made the Vietnamese chicken, the black bean soup, and the shepherd's pie recipes. I'll be ordering your book on Amazon soon, because the book is due back at the library and I can't give it up! Thank you, thank you!

I'm going to read the original black eyed peas post in a second, but I was wondering if someone could tell me why my black eyed peas still taste undercooked(chewy instead of mushy inside) after this has been in the crockpot for 12 hours? We're having this for football watching tomorrow, but right now the beans aren't very tasty. Smells great though! Thanks for any suggestions!

I just made this today and it was wonderful! I had a couple cans of blackeyed peas so I used those along with a can of northern beans. I also made a pan of sweet cornbread to eat with the meal. It was delicious!

Delicious! I made it with bok choy, because that's what my corner market had for greens - the woman there said it's great for stews, because you can't overcook it. And she was right, it's great in this!

What a cool blog.I don't do enough slow cooking,and have been meaning to keep the crock pot out of the closet,and keep it on the kitchen table.The recipes here sound awesome,and just wanted to thank you!!

I mistakenly took the black eye peas for black beans and I subbed a couple of other ingredients...my dish obviously didn't come out nice looking as yours, but I must say it still tasted delish! Next time I'll see how it turns out with the black eyed peas. Thanks so much for this recipe!

YUM!! This was delicious! I made it for my husband, who is from the South, and he didn't recognize it as his mom's Hoppin' John, possibly because it lacked fatback and hogjowls. He loved it anyway! I added a chopped onion, some garlic, and a few pinches of crushed red pepper, some extra (wilting) greens, and doubled the rice. When I make it again (and I will!), I might add another cup of rice and more Rotel.

yum! just had my first bowl. i am a bit new to slow cooking, my problem i am too inpatient to wait for it to be done :) i added a bit of minced garlic and a bit chopped spring onion (from my garden) and used my canned tomatoes and cut in some cilantro instead of the Rotel. it is safe to have the cooker on while i am at work? can't wait to try some more of your recipes. amy

Had to come and post - this is our favorite recipe on your site. We like it spicy so I use two cans of rotel, turkey smoked sausage and a mix of both collards & kale. Simple and delicious... will be making it for New Year's to bring luck in the coming year!

I made this recipe overnight and WOW is it good! What a wonderful treat to start my year off with something as delicious as this. Thanks for all your recipes -- I use them a few times a week! Hope you and yours have a great year!

Steph~I vegetarianized this recipe here ( http://www.veggieconverter.com/2011/01/hoppin-john-vegetarian-black-eyed-peas.html ) ... and loved it. I really don't like black eyed peas normally. But these were so good. Yum, thanks for all you do.

Made this last night for NY Day's dinner. It was a HIT!!! I put in regular long grain white rice at the 8hr 30 min mark, and continued cooking 30 more mins. I also added red chili flakes. Delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

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